Tag: St Albans

Bishop of St Albans asks about undocumented migrants

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 9th January 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, following the Prime Minister’s statement on illegal migration on 13 December, whether they will respond to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ appeal to the UK to uphold its legal obligations.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): I can assure the Honourable Bishop that the statement is under consideration and any response deemed necessary will be made by the Government in due course.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about school milk programmes

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th January 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of children under five years old who benefit from the provision of free school milk; and what plans they have to expand that provision.

Lord Markham (Con): Approximately 810,587 children received a portion of milk through the Nursery Milk Scheme every school day during 2021/22. There are no plans to expand the provision.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about school breakfast programmes

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th January 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to expand the National School Breakfast Programme.

Baroness Barran (Con): The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfasts and has extended the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) for an additional year in November. We are investing up to £30 million in our national school breakfast programme until the end of the summer term in 2024. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment and wellbeing.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about screenings for malnutrition

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th January 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government why screening of malnutrition is not standard practice in all health settings across England.

Lord Markham (Con): The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that all hospital inpatients on admission and all outpatients at their first clinic appointment should be screened for malnutrition. Screening should be repeated weekly for inpatients and when there is clinical concern for outpatients. Residents in care homes should be screened on admission and when there is clinical concern.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about education on gambling

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th January 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • what plans they have to review the statutory guidance Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education to provide further clarification on what pupils should know about online gambling.
  • what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the statutory guidance Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education in preventing harmful gambling by school pupils.
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Bishop of St Albans asks about access to cash in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 21st December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • what steps they are taking to ensure that cash access remains viable in the most remote parts of the UK.
  • further to the introduction of shared banking hubs in larger towns in the UK, what assessment they have made of level of cash access those in the most rural areas can expect to have in the future.
  • what steps they are taking to support people who rely solely on cash to (1) access cash, and (2) access digital banking alternatives to cash.

Lord Harlech (Con): The government recognises that while the transition towards digital banking and payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.

The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about fines imposed on gambling companies

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 20th November 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many fines were imposed against gambling companies by the Gambling Commission for failing to meet their social responsibility obligations in (1) 2016, (2) 2017, (3) 2018, (4) 2019, (5) 2020, and (6) 2021.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about safe and legal routes for those seeking asylum

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question concerning safe and legal routes for people seeking asylum in the UK, during a debate on the government’s migration policy and partnership with Rwanda on 20th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in the recent Statements, and in the Prime Minister’s comment piece in the Telegraph, there was a stated commitment to create more safe and legal routes, but no information was given on the timeline or the proposed numbers, and there was no indication of the sorts vulnerabilities that have been identified. The Rwanda partnership is one among many deterrence policies, but the worry is that, in the absence of safe routes, it seems very unlikely that that will be sufficient. When will the Government bring forward plans and proposals for these additional safe and legal routes?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about upholding free speech in universities

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on upholding freedom of speech in universities on 20th December 2022, following discussion of an attack on protestors at the Chinese consulate in Manchester:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, as was said, this is part of a much larger testing of what we do in this country. This is also being lived out and spelled out in our university campuses, where meetings are sometimes being disrupted, people are being shouted down and freedom of speech is under threat. What advice and support are being given to our universities to ensure that these vital values are upheld in our country?

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Bishop of St Albans pays tribute to House of Lords staff and those who have left the House

On 20th December 2022, the Bishop of St Albans paid tribute to the House of Lords staff, and to those who had retired and left the house this year:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I will not detain the House for long but, on behalf of the Lords spiritual, we thank all those extraordinary staff who, through their dedication, have served us so well. I am thinking of the clerks, the doorkeepers, and the catering, security and domestic staff. We really could not function without them and the extraordinary level of professionalism and dedication that they bring.

I will not go through a list of people, although I highlight—because she was a huge help to me— Philippa Tudor and her extraordinary competence and professionalism. We on these Benches also extend our best wishes to the family and friends of Lee Barnes. We offer all those who have been mentioned today our best wishes as they move either into retirement or on to new challenges, and we wish them a very happy Christmas.

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